(1) Field of the Art:
This invention relates to a driving force transmitting member suitable for use in a passive seat belt, and more specifically to a driving force transmitting member which features readiness in bending not only thicknesswise but also widthwise and is hence suitable particularly for use in a passive seat belt.
(2) Description of the Prior Art:
In a passive seat belt, a driving force transmitting member is incorporated to move, along a slide rail, a runner on which one end of a webbing is fixedly secured or a guide ring which serves to guide a non-extreme portion of a webbing. There has conventionally been employed, as such a driving force transmitting member, a geared wire formed of a spirally-wound wire, a thick tape formed of a thick synthetic resin tape through which small holes have been formed at equal intervals, or the like. A portion of such a geared wire or thick tape is fixedly coupled with the aforementioned runner or guide ring and the geared wire or thick tape is brought into meshing engagement with a drive gear of a motor. Thus, the runner or guide ring, namely, the webbing can be moved by way of the geared wire or thick tape upon rotation of the motor.
Among passive seat belts making use of such prior art force transmitting members, those relying upon thick tapes have already found some commercial utility owing to their advantages, namely, light weights and less occurrence of noise
When using such thick tapes as driving force transmitting members, they encounter such a problem that they cannot be readily bent widthwise although they can be bent with ease in their thickness directions.
It is however general that a slide rail, which is provided along a vehicle body, is bent not only in the vertical direction (see, FIG. 1 which will be described later) but also in the width direction of the vehicle (in other words, cambered laterally). In addition, a guide member which guides a thick tape from the slide rail to a motor is generally bent in the width direction of the vehicle Where the thick tape cannot undergo ready bending in its width direction, significant sliding resistance is developed between the thick tape and its corresponding slide rail or guide member, leading to a potential danger that its corresponding runner or guide ring may not be allowed to undergo smooth movement.